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Thats good, one less thing to worry about then. I am still fighting off these basketball size June Bugs. One cheated though...I seen one in my garage 1am on the 29th of May. I yelled at it and said to come back in two days

Just on the dogs so far

Caching Memorial weekend I found a few on the dogs. Also when we went to Stonington a week later. I had put the Frontline treatment on Jock and as he was laying on the floor I actually watched a tick jump off him. I guess the stuff really works. I have been lucky so far not to have gotten one on myself.

I think the ticks are out full force this year as usual. Friday, in Falmouth, and yesterday, in Auburn I had to pick off several. When I got home from Auburn...found 2 to of them had managed to score lunch. EWWW! (I really, really HATE ticks!)

Like you, I seem to attract ticks. Joe gets the mosquitos, I get the ticks. Trying Cutters instead of Off and seeing fewer of the little creatures. Won't catch me in the woods in shorts since I'd be covered with them. Yuck. Living down south in my youth, we used to pop the ticks on the dogs. The ticks would get about thumb sized. Double yuck.

If you can see the little critter, it's probably a dog tick or wood tick and you are ok. It's the one you can't see that carrys Lyme's disease and it's no bigger then the head of a pin, at least before it gets lunch! The State Lab has a really nice laminated "Tick Card" with the three different ticks on it and information on how to protect yourself from them and how to safely remove them. They sent them to the lab where I work, but I don't know if there is a place for the general public to get them. The card would be nice to have in a pocket for reference. If you find one and want to know what it is, the State Public Health Lab has a form you can print off and send with the tick to Maine Medical Center for ID.

I don't know if the cold winter has killed them off, or if this is a slow season, or if I've just been lucky, but we really haven't seen many ticks this spring at all. And that's not a bad thing! I've also noticed a few houses with signs saying "Mainely Ticks" pest control out front. I guess they are taking aggressive measures against them. The only good tick is a dead tick, but I'm not a big fan of pesticides either. I hope they are out of range of my water supply!

Don't take the CDC maps too seriously in terms of assuming there is no threat, since they don't list Kentucky at all and a GeoCacher in Kentucky got bit in the ear a couple of months ago, and ended up in the Emergency Room for a couple of weeks with a well-advanced case of Lyme. He was bitten in the ear canal, so the "target shaped bruise" didn't show, and he wasn't diagnosed until it was nearly too late. He was out of circulation for several weeks and is now back out caching, but he'll be feeling the effects for a very long time.

Be careful out there, but remember that ticks are everywhere, so don't let it completely stop you. As someone already mentioned, they are as likely to be in your yard as they are in the field. Just do tick checks, wear long pants and tuck your pantlegs and shirt in, wear Deet and consider using Permethrin on your clothing, and make sure you don't have any of the little critters on you. Lyme is not that bad as long as it gets caught early. Wait too long and it can be fatal.

If you can see the little critter, it's probably a dog tick or wood tick and you are ok. It's the one you can't see that carrys Lyme's disease and it's no bigger then the head of a pin, at least before it gets lunch! The State Lab has a really nice laminated "Tick Card" with the three different ticks on it and information on how to protect yourself from them and how to safely remove them. They sent them to the lab where I work, but I don't know if there is a place for the general public to get them. The card would be nice to have in a pocket for reference. If you find one and want to know what it is, the State Public Health Lab has a form you can print off and send with the tick to Maine Medical Center for ID.